THINGS ‘NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE’ FROM START AT LEISURE CENTRE
Review into the major issues at Jubilee 2
A REVIEW will look to uncover hidden defects at a problem-plagued leisure centre – as well as examine how previous issues were dealt with.
Jubilee 2 in Newcastle town centre has been affected by a series of issues since it was built almost nine years ago including a leaking roof and leaks to its aqua sauna.
The latest setback led to the leisure centre’s main swimming pool being closed in August – just two weeks into its reopening after lockdown. The pool currently remains out of action following a ‘significant loss of water’, caused by fractures to the pipework.
Newcastle Borough Council, which owns and runs the centre, is arranging for survey work to be carried out to find out if there are any other undiscovered defects.
Deputy leader Councillor Stephen Sweeney, right, also called for an investigation into how previous issues were dealt with.
Speaking at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting he said: “Since Jubilee 2 opened there have been ongoing issues with roof leaks around the building. The aqua sauna health suite – which is on the first floor – initially started leaking water into the ground floor changing village in 2014.
“Could this report find out what actions this council took since the building opened to repair these or did it put buckets underneath the leaking roofs for year upon year, not actually doing anything?”
Council leader Simon Tagg said: “I can remember being in opposition in this council in the middle of the last decade and writing to the then chief executive to raise concerns that residents were raising with me about the quality of the offer there because of the issues with the changing facilities and the way in which the building was run in those days. I passed that on and it seemed that nothing really happened with that over the proceeding years.”
Jubilee 2 was built in 2011, when the borough council was controlled by a Conservative-led coalition.
Mr Tagg was council leader from 2006 to 2011, with Mr Sweeney taking over in 2011. The council was controlled by Labour between 2012 and 2017.
Mr Tagg added: “We’ve had a number of problems over the years with J2. This administration, when it came in at the end of 2017, has already taken this task seriously.
“We got the dialogue going with Morgan Sindall, the contractor that built the centre for us, and they are beginning to address and accept the poor workmanship and have taken steps to start to put some of these things right. The pool closure has led to another investigation, trying to find the cause and get a solution.
“Morgan Sindall are working very closely with us.”
Councillor Paul Northcott added: “The concerning thing is while it was opened in 2012 things were allowed to go on for so long and not be addressed.
“It’s quite clear some of the things were not fit for purpose and it’s encouraging to hear there is now open dialogue with the builders in terms of accepting the responsibility and putting the defects right.”
Councillor Trevor Holland said: “It comes down to quality and the quality of the workmanship. I think we’ve learned a lesson from this for any future projects we undertake that we have got to really clamp down on inspecting the works as we go so we have less faults.”